1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to wheeled devices for pedal-powered riding. More particularly, the present invention concerns a device comprising a center wheel and two side wheels spaced apart from and oriented parallel to one another so as to have a common axis of rotation; two shafts, with each shaft extending between and coupled with the center wheel and a different one of the side wheels in an offset manner; and two pedals associated with the shafts, wherein a rider stands upon the pedals and applies force thereto to cause the wheels to move.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is often desirable to ride a device which requires substantial motor skills such as balance or coordination. This is particularly true, for example, for children or young adults who relish the challenge of mastering such a device. It is also true, however, for those persons, possibly disabled, injured, or otherwise handicapped, who lack and wish to develop these motor skills through a rehabilitation or therapy regimen involving riding such a device.
For these reasons, a variety of such devices exist in the prior art. One-wheeled pedal-powered unicycles exist, for example, which require a very high level of balance and coordination to ride. Unicycles do not enjoy great popularity, however, in part because the rider must be concerned with maintaining balance in all four directions, including forward and backward and side-to-side, thereby making the unicycle exceedingly difficult to ride. Two-wheeled pedal-powered bicycles exist which require substantially less skill than the aforementioned unicycle and therefore enjoy greater use and popularity. Bicycles, however, are generally built to provide a practical means of transportation and are therefore relatively large and heavy, having a full frame, seat, and handle bars, and are correspondingly costly to manufacture. Thus, bicycles are not suitable for use in most indoor settings, are not easily or conveniently hand-transportable, and are relatively costly to purchase and maintain, making them generally undesirable and unfriendly to users outside of the context of practical transportation for which they were designed. Three-wheeled pedal-powered tricycles exist which require very little skill to ride, with the wheels being traditionally provided in a stable tripod-type arrangement. It will be appreciated, however, that such conventional tricycles present little or no riding challenge and do not require or aid in developing significant balance or coordination skills. Similarly, conventional four-wheeled pedal-powered devices are also very stable and therefore provide none of the riding challenge or rehabilitative or therapeutic potential of a less stable device.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved wheeled device for pedal-powered riding which presents a substantial but not excessive riding challenge, which requires or aids in developing motor skills such as balance and coordination, and which is more generally usable and user-friendly.
The present invention overcomes the above-described and other disadvantages in the prior art by providing a three-wheeled device for pedal-powered riding, wherein the device provides a substantial and enjoyable but not excessive riding challenge. In a preferred embodiment, the device broadly comprises three wheels, including a center wheel and left and right side wheels; two shafts, including a first shaft and a second shaft; and two pedals, including a first pedal and a second pedal.
The wheels support the remainder of the device and a rider in a suspended operating position while facilitating straight or turning movements along a substantially forward or backward line of travel and inhibiting direct sideward movement. Thus, the device is more stable and easier to ride than a unicycle, but less stable and more challenging to ride than a traditional tricycle. The wheels are substantially identical in construction and are spaced apart from and oriented parallel to one another so as to rotate about a common axis. Each wheel includes a center portion and a circumferential portion. The center portions provide structural support and stability to the wheels and facilitate coupling the wheels with the shafts. Each center portion includes one or more mounting holes which receive and engage an end of one of the shafts. The center wheel includes two such mounting holes, with each being identically offset to opposite sides of the wheels"" common axis of rotation. The left and right side wheels each include at least one mounting hole which aligns with a different one of the center wheel""s two mounting holes. The mounting holes may be provided with bearings for receiving the shafts and for facilitating the turning thereof relative to the wheels by reducing contact friction forces. The circumferential portion of each wheel provides protection against wear, reduces marring and noise associated with riding the device, and aids in absorbing impacts.
The shafts extend between and couple the wheels and allow for transferring a rider-applied force from the pedals to the wheels. The ends of each shaft are preferably adapted in a conventional manner for engaging or otherwise coupling with the mounting holes in the wheels or with the bearings provided in the mounting holes. When so coupled, the first shaft will be parallel to and offset in a first direction from the wheels"" axis of rotation, and the second shaft will be parallel to and offset in a second direction from the wheels"" axis of rotation, wherein the second direction is opposite the first.
The pedals support the rider and are acted upon by the rider to cause the device to move. The first pedal is coupled with the first shaft and the second pedal is coupled with the second shaft, and each pedal is substantially rectangular in shape and dimensioned to accommodated one of the rider""s feet. For added safety, the pedals may include one or more non-slip contact surfaces and one or more light reflectors. The non-slip contact surfaces reduce or substantially eliminate slippage of the rider""s feet from the pedals. The light reflectors reflect ambient light, such as, for example, light from nearby streetlights or vehicle headlights, during nighttime or other low-visibility riding.
In use, the rider stands on the pedals and applies force thereto, with the force being transferred via the shafts to the wheels which are thereby caused to roll.
Thus, it will be appreciated that the wheeled device of the present invention provides a number of significant advantages over the prior art, including, for example, that the device provides a substantial and enjoyable but not excessive riding challenge which requires and aids in developing motor skills such as balance and coordination. Furthermore, the device is advantageously suitable for indoor use, is conveniently hand-transportable, and is substantially less complex in construction and therefore less costly to manufacture. For these reasons, the device has application, for example, as a child""s toy or a young adult""s recreational vehicle wherein the child or young adult desires the challenge of mastering the device, or as part of a rehabilitation or therapy regimen for disabled, injured, or otherwise handicapped persons who wish to develop or regain such the motor skills. Thus, the device incorporates features making it particularly suited for and user-friendly in a variety of applications and contexts of use.
These and other important aspects of the present invention are more fully described in the section entitled DETAILED DESCRIPTION, below.